Making sails from silkspan

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After the construction of my 1:50 gaff sloop was nearing its end, I had to decide which kind of sail to get, cloth or tissue paper. Fabric sails are very nice when they are well made and I was not sure if I could do it in this scale. So I decided on silkspan, studied Tom Lauria's video, read an article by Werner Zimmermann and then got down to work.......
The first experiences were absolutely sobering. Since the material is very thin, only a double layer can be used, whch must glued together with a glue-water mixture.
What a catastrophe, the material curled like crazy and tore in every conceivable place. Tom Lauria's solution is more complex and has the same dangers.
After some considerarion I decided to make it like the real sailmakers, in lanes.
Gaffelschalup_20201020_5.jpg
The markings are recorded on the double-layered clothes, where they are laid on top of each other an glued together with a glue-water mixture.Gaffelschalup_20201020_2.jpg
The contours of the sails are cut out using a template, with duplications on all sides and reinforcements at the end. Then painted with airbrush. Be careful, the sails are vey sensitive when they are wet. When dry, they are very stable.Gaffelschalup_20201020_4.jpgGaffelschalup_20201020_3.jpg
After painting the sails they get a bolt-rope and the necessary holes are punched with punch and die set.Gaffelschalup_20201020_6.jpg
Then the sails are treated with a weathering pencil to get a natural look.Gaffelschalup_20201104_2.jpg
At the end the gaff sail gets the necessary reef straps.

Of course I'm not quite satisfied yet, because it still has too many wrinkles, but I'm still working on that.

To be continued.
 
The sails are looking great - wow -> very realistic
 
That's great workmanship. I did not know silkspan and tissue paper are the same thing. Or that one could be substituted for the other. The results are outstanding. I wonder if I can use this material to make flags??? I'm going to be trying an iron on transfer process and am currently looking into materials that would be suitable.
 
Hi TeckTrek until recently I also did not know that silkspan and tissue paper are the same thing. For flags I use normal paper. Silkspan is extremely sensitiv to wetness and tears easily, but it‘s always worth a try.
I’m going to try very thin cotton or actual white silk for my flags, will stop at Fabricland later today and get some small pieces of various thin white material that won’t melt while ironing. I created my template so all I need to do is fold it down the middle and put the material in between. I’ll test several types and see what works out. Here’s what the flag template looks like for my Bluenose build. I’m also creating a full set of flags for my future HMS Fly build. Need material that can handle 375 F iron temperature. I just noticed I need to rotate one of my Nova Scotia flags.
Screen Shot 2020-12-20 at 1.25.49 PM.png
 
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That's great workmanship. I did not know silkspan and tissue paper are the same thing. Or that one could be substituted for the other. The results are outstanding. I wonder if I can use this material to make flags??? I'm going to be trying an iron on transfer process and am currently looking into materials that would be suitable.
Hmm, I’m not 100% positive but I think silkspan is much like the material that tea bags are made from much more robust than tissue paper. If my memory serves, silkspan on my RC models was much easier to apply but took many more coats of dope to get a good finish.

Jan
 
I’m going to try very thin cotton or actual white silk for my flags, will stop at Fabricland later today and get some small pieces of various thin white material that won’t melt while ironing. I created my template so all I need to do is fold it down the middle and put the material in between. I’ll test several types and see what works out. Here’s what the flag template looks like for my Bluenose build. I’m also creating a full set of flags for my future HMS Fly build. Need material that can handle 375 F iron temperature. I just noticed I need to rotate one of my Nova Scotia flags.
I am also interested in the HMS Fly. Do you work with the books of David Antscherl and Gregg Herbert??
 
Might I ask where you got the punch tools and die for making such small holes so easy?
Hi Kurt, the punch and die set I purchased from a German plastic modeling company and is from Italy. Unfortunately it is no longer available. But there is something comparable from RP Toolz with hole width from 0,5 to 2 mm and is available in the relevant plastic modeling trade.
 
As it turns out the process I will be using for my flags can not use silk span, as the heat from the iron is too hot. 100% cotton is the only material that will accept the heat transfer. I have 3 different weights and weaves to experiment with. We'll see which ones work the best.
 
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